This lipglass was part of MAC's poorly thought out By Request Collection (I didn't actually purchase it myself by the way, I won it from someone in a makeup group!). I say poorly thought out because of the supply vs demand debacle with the lipsticks (if you sell out of one of the colors before you even send the email notice about the collection release, that's not a good thing) and the frankly bland colors of the collection. If I had it my way, I would have released Strawberry Blonde Lipstick but I digress.

Product Description:"A unique lip gloss available in a wide variety of colours that can create a high gloss, glass-like finish or subtle sheen...Tinted Lipglass is the perfect product for creating shine that lasts. It's pigmented, very shiny and can impart subtle or dramatic colour"

My Thoughts on the Formula/Wear Time: I used to think I was partial to sticky lipglosses because of the wear time but now my tastes have changed and I'm not a fan of them anymore. These are quite tacky on but the wear time is pretty good, about 3-4 hours without eating or drinking. Despite the tackiness, it didn't feel uncomfortable or drying on.

Cruelty Free? As they choose to sell in China (a country that reserves the right to conduct animal testing), they are not cruelty free.

Bait is described as an "iris-pink with gold pearl" and somehow depicted quite dark and coralish on the site (it's not in real life). It was originally part of MAC's Lure Collection which was released in 2006. I could swear that they mixed up Flash of Flesh and Bait's product picture because Flash of Flesh is definitely not that light looking.

I'd describe it more as a frosty, milky, baby pink with multicolor pearl. In contrast to my semi tan skin tone, it doesn't fare well by itself and definitely needs to be paired with another product.

I can't say this was a favorite lipglass of mine, mainly because I think it's a color that doesn't look well on me unless I pair it with something else. I had high hopes for the collection in general but I think the colors chosen feel kind of flat. They were the general public's consensus but I thought colors like Guacamole and Jete weren't highly coveted (why not Parrot?) or Moxie and Rocker.

For a while now, I've felt quite blase about MAC launches and this was the same.

Long time no substantive post! I started school yesterday and suffice to say, I'm already in major senioritis mode. I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before but this is my last year of my undergraduate degree. Unfortunately for me, I'm also balancing studying for the GRE and worrying about grad school so that's super fun now. I can't wait to graduate so I can be done with undergrad.

I didn't wear this look to school because I couldn't bother at 8 in the morning but I just felt the need to do something bright and bold when I got home.

Eyes

Too Faced Shadow Insurance

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk on the lid and waterline

Sugarpill Velocity on the lid and lower lashline

Sugarpill Mochi on the outer edges of Velocity and on the waterline

Wet n Wild Brule on the browbone

Mary Kay Lash Love Waterproof Mascara*

Milani Brow Tint Pen in Dark Brown

If you didn't notice, I revamped the blog a little bit by adding a new header and changing up some of the widgets. I really love the header (I purchased it from Suck My Lolly!) because I think the retro camera suits my blog name and it's pink so how could I resist? I got a little tired of just having the plain text blog title so I'm happy to have made a super cute header.

In conjunction with revamping the blog I wanted to ask you guys, what posts you want to see more of? I tried adding a poll but the widget isn't working I wanted to see if you guys want to see more lip product swatches, eyeshadow swatches, reviews, EOTDs, FOTDs, etc? Please comment below with your answer! EDIT: I got the poll working so please answer in the sidebar!

One of the last order of business is to direct you to my blog sale. It turns out that I'm only getting half of the financial aid that I expected to get this year so I'm slowly but surely selling off my collection to help pad my finances for next semester's tuition. You can check it out by clicking the link or the "Blog Sale" tab!

How was your weekend? If anyone is going back to school, are you already back or do you still have a bit of a vacation left?

(I've been suffering from allergies and I'm hoping to get over them before I do any makeup looks so until then, enjoy my reviews and nail polish posts!)

I used to dance ballet so anything ballet related is automatically something I need. When I heard about the OPI New York City Ballet Nail Polish Collection, I knew I had to get my hands on one of the polishes. I went back and forth on which one to get but decided on You Callin' Me a Lyre? because it reminded me of the satin on toe shoes.

I got it knowing it was a jelly polish and initially, I didn't like it on my nails. I thought it looked fine on my shorter nails where the smile line hasn't started growing but on my middle and ring finger, it appeared strange to me. Years of nail biting has left my smile line starting really high up on the nail. As I kept wearing though, the semi translucent jelly finish kept sucking me in and now I actually like it on my nails.

It does take some finesse to apply this evenly. I had to be sure to let each coat dry thoroughly on the nail and to not apply too much on each coat. I believe this was about four coats topped off with Seche Vite.

GiftAffiliate LinkAges ago, I was introduced to Besame Cosmetics by the MakeupAlley Makeup Message Boards. I was so drawn in by the vintage inspired gold and red packaging, combined with the vibrant hues of the lipsticks and other products. The line was started by Gabriela Hernandez and a "culmination of Gabriela's passion for design and her desire to create an original cosmetic with details and formulas that make women feel glamorous and unique".

Their big seller is their current line of Classic Color Lipstick but they do offer other products like a 1930s Mascara, Sweetheart Lip Balm, Crimson Cream Rouge (which I'm dying to try), Brightening Violet Powder, and other rotating accessories and sets.
I got this sample set of their Classic Color Lipsticks as a birthday gift but unfortunately, they've stopped offering it (hopefully it'll return soon!) . The set was $16.00 and came with six 1 gram lipstick samples (equal to about two lipsticks), a brochure card, and a tiny disposable lip brush. For sure, I'm set on red lipsticks for quite some time (I say this now of course!). Perhaps this is the perfect red lipstick set, I could see these lipsticks working for blondes, redheads, and brunettes.

Product Description: "The most delectable lipstick with a semi-matte finish and one coal full coverage. the highest natural pigment content for a smooth, indelible, feather-proof finish. Enriched with vitamins A, E, and C, aloe and green tea. Our vintage reproduction colors are the exact shades used by your favorite Hollywood starlets." The lipstick bullet has a "wedge tip" to line and fill with precision.

My Thoughts on the Formula/Wear Time: Elsewhere on the site (under "The making of Bésame"), there's further info on the lipstick formula. It's meant to have "a satin finish and high-pigmented formula" that stays put and I can attest to both claims. If you're looking for a matte finish, these lipsticks don't have it. Even after 5 hours, the color looked just as good as when I first applied it and it could have kept on going. I'll update when I wear it longer than 8 hours but I didn't notice any feathering. These didn't feel heavy on the lips, not tacky but just smooth on. Comfortable to wear. These aren't vegan by the way (they contain beeswax) but they look to be paraben-free (not a big issue for me but it's worth mentioning)

Packaging: Each lipstick is in a gold plated bullet shaped case and comes with a velvet pouch for storage.

Price: Full size lipsticks retail for $22.00 for 3.5 grams

Where to Purchase: Besame Cosmetics, Sephora (affiliate). Online orders don't ship internationally unfortunately but they do have a list of places to buy if you're international and some brick and mortar stores if you're in the US.

Cruelty-free? I checked their FAQ and they do not test on animals.

I usually don't like doing page breaks but since I have lip swatches, an arm swatch, and comparison swatches for these lipsticks, it's just too much to have on the front page so click on to see everything!

The news that OCC would soon be offered at Sephora isn't new to diehard OCC fans but it is certainly new to hear about the exclusive Nylon Lip Tar, a color that was a collaboration with NYLON Magazine. This is a vibrant neon pink, one that was Pantone-matched to the NYLON logo and now available on Sephora.com. On September 17th, the shade will be available at certain Sephora locations but I'd just pick it up now!

According to the product listing, this is a limited edition shade. If you haven't yet, enter my giveaway for an OCC Lip Tar of your choice. If Nylon is still available by the time you win, you can certainly choose that as your prize!

When I got Essie's Good as Gold in the mail yesterday (thanks to Klout Perks!), I knew I had to do a manicure with it. Three years ago, China Glaze came out with their Khrome collection with mirror like metallics. I adored them from afar, only picking up Millenium, the silver chrome, but not 2030 which was the gold chrome. From then on, I've searched for a similar mirror like chrome and I've come close with the Essie Mirror Metallics collection.Good as Gold is a neutral gold metallic polish, not as warm as molten golds. It isn't particularly flecky but positively chrome like and like most metallics, unflattering on ridgey and bumpy nails. It isn't quite like the China Glaze Khrome collection since you can see some brushstrokes but it's close enough. I put Good as Gold on by itself but felt like it was missing something so I picked up China Glaze Millenium and sponged it on for my first ever gradient. Not too good on my short nails but I don't think it looks half bad on my middle and ring finger. I followed the gradient technique from The Nailasaurus but I still need some practice.

Are you a fan of metallic nail polishes or are you not fond of how unforgiving it can be? How about the gradient nails?

Oh man, it's been quite some time since I've posted about nail polish and my nails on the blog. I always have trouble growing out my nails during the school year since it's a nervous habit of mine to bite them. Summer time is pretty much the only time I can grow them out and I take full advantage of that to try to use up my plentiful polish stash. I had a minor obsession with nail polish before moving to makeup so I've got a whole Melmer drawer of colors waiting to be used.

For Audrey is pretty much the perfect Tiffany Blue color, I've scoped out similar colors but I do think this one is the best. For Audrey combined with A Stroke of Brilliance made for super pretty and glittery blue nails.

My nails keep breaking but I can't wear to cut them all the same length, especially my ring finger which has the longest nail. When your nails break, do you cut them down to the same length or just deal with it?

It feels like it's been ages since I've posted anything of substance (giveaways don't really count and here's another reminder to enter them all!) because in between working and studying, I haven't really been able to muster up any sort of creativity. Now that my summer job is over and I have more spare time and money, I've picked up a few things to help spur my creative juices.

I also gotta say, I feel like the haircut makes me feel like I can pull off more dramatic looks and colors that I didn't think looked good on me before look much more okay with me now. A downside to the haircut though is that my camera seems to want to photograph me with super flat hair.

Although you can't really see it in the picture, I used L'oreal Infallible Eyeshadow in Golden Emerald. I'm in the midst of reviewing this and another color I got and thus far, I really like it. Here's a preview picture showing off the super pretty nuances.

Products Used:

FaceCover FX Powder FX in M40

EyesL'oreal Infallible Eyeshadow in Golden Emerald

Milani Brow Tint Pen in Dark Brown

Lips

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Stockholm

For all you short haired folks, what products do you recommend for styling your short hair? I'm mostly looking for something to add volume and I have super fine hair.

It doesn't matter old you are, Hello Kitty is for the young at heart."Kitty's" created a fragrance, and it arrives in truly cute kitty fashion. The Advice Sisters gives you the scoop on this adorable (and wearable) fragrance.

This week on Emily Hudspeth, hair design and makeup artist's blog, its been all about nails. We are wrapping up the week with a give away from Julep, the nail polish sample box. Enter to win a sample box from Julep!

Need summer hairstyle ideas? TheFabZilla shows you this quick and fun hairstyle called "The Spiral".

Olympians aren't the only ones sporting gold right now. Check out Blushing Basics for tips on what golds are available for you.

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Swim 2013 continues to steam up the beauty scenes with innovative hairstyles and thanks to TRESemme's Matthew Curtis, from the UK -- Elite Socialistas grants you access to these sexy hair trends -- haute off the runway!

Brooke from BlushingNoir dives into the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale and surfaces with an exclusive Chanel Quad! See how to apply a neutral, smoky eye with Rives!

Today features the final giveaway in my Five Days of Birthday Giveaways Series and today's prize is going to be an OCC Lip Tar in your choice of color. I'll admit, I was racking my brain a bit trying to figure out what to do for the last day of the giveaway and I figured that everyone would love to win an OCC Lip Tar.

Be sure to enter Day One, Two, Three, and Four Giveaways too! Enter using the Rafflecopter widget. Open internationally and current GFC Followers get a bonus entry.

Here's Day Four of my Five Days of Birthday Giveaways! If you haven't yet, check out Day One, Two, and Three by clicking the link or clicking on the tab above that says "Giveaways". Each are open for a month so you've got quite some time to enter.

I've featured Fyrinnae a few times on the blog and they are so well known for their complex eyeshadows that I couldn't help but offer something up from them this week. Today's giveaway prize is a $20 Fyrinnae Gift Certificate and believe me, it can go a long way at the shop. They offer minis of their eyeshadows and they are substantial amounts (I don't even think I own a full size Fyrinnae eyeshadows, just minis!)

Enter using the Rafflecopter widget. Open internationally and current GFC Followers get a bonus entry!

Here's Day Three of my Birthday Giveaways! If you want to keep track of the giveaways this week, be sure to click the Giveaway Tab at the top of the page!

Much like Portland Black Lipstick Company, I knew that I had to feature Darling Girl Cosmetics. I own quite a few of the eyeshadows (enough that they have their own basket in my stash), their Glitter Glue, and a few samples of the Holo Glosses (one of my favorite indie lip products!). Today's giveaway is generously sponsored by Darling Girl Cosmetics and one winner will win a $20 gift certificate to the Darling Girl Cosmetics website and also my namesake Mai gloss (from her mini Blogger Glosses collection that I swatched in my last post!)

Enter using the Rafflecopter widget. Open internationally and current GFC Followers get a bonus entry!

I'm so excited to show off these lipglosses, I don't think I can put it in words. A little while ago, I was lamenting on Twitter about how I could never find any personalized keychains, mugs, and other souvenirs available to tourists with my name on it. I also lamented that Zoya and Julep haven't gotten around to adding my name to their list of polishes.

Enter Susan from Darling Girl Cosmetics. She offered to make it a custom color and now Mai is finally available! I'm seriously so excited to have a namesake gloss, it soothes my uniquely named soul. Hopefully you can see that choosing to have the gloss named after me isn't totally an egotistical decision

Here's a collage of all the Blogger glosses! I wrote a blurb on each gloss but for the tl;dr crowd, I loved them all.

I did want to give some insight as to why I chose the color. In Vietnam, Mai is the name of a yellow flower that is used to decorate houses during the Vietnamese New Year, Tết, and red and gold are two colors that are prominently used throughout Tết. That got me thinking that it'd be awesome to have a red polish with gold or yellow flakies, incorporating red and the gold/yellow from the holiday but also the namesake flower.

I feel honored to have the gloss of my namesake dream invented and available for sale. I love all the other Blogger glosses too so I hope you guys partake in the gorgeous colors

Judikins:

Judikins: "Sheer plum with multi-colored holo-shimmer" Judixo's gloss. I LOVED this. The purple, gold, and green sparkles in the gloss just made me think of Mardi Gras and a king cake so the positive food associations make me love it more.

Mai:

Mai: "Cherry red with golden green flakie". I know, the arm swatch makes it look quite orange in the picture but that's because of the gold flakies interacting with the red base. Looking straight on, it looks red like in the lip swatch picture. I was so inspired by Holly Jolly Holo Gloss so if you're wondering, Holly Jolly is much more cool toned/blue based than Mai.

Makeup Junkie:

Makeup Junkie: "Milky lilac pink with pink and lavender holo-shimmer" MakeupJunkie88's gloss. This was a little more difficult for me to wear since it is very milky but I think it would look fantastic over other lip products. The pink and lavender shimmer is subtle but very pretty.

McSwatchy:

McSwatchy: "Soft golden berry with loads of gold and pink holo-sparkle" I super duper loved this (and not just because I adore Swatch Storm) This was like the pinky/coral counterpart to Judikins and the pink holo-sparkle is just so flattering.

Rach:

Rach: "Vibrant magenta with a strong blue shift" The Beauty Spot's gloss. You can get surprisingly good coverage with the gloss. I've been having a soft spot for purple lip products and the mix of blue shift and magenta base can make it look quite purple in some lights.

Rock, Roll, Glam!:

Rock, Roll, Glam!: "Bold red orange with just a delicate touch of gold pearl" Rock, Roll, Glam!'s gloss. Ohhh boy, I couldn't help but fall in love with this one. You can see the slightest hint of gold pearl in the arm swatch but it is quite subtle in the lip swatch. Of the six, this was the most opaque.

Be sure to check out Judi's, Cait's, and Ivy's swatches of their glosses!

Do any of the glosses strike your fancy?

Disclaimer: I purchased Mai Gloss myself and the rest I received as samples for consideration. None of the links are affiliate link and all opinions are my own. I wasn't paid to write this post.

After trying out some of the awesome lipsticks from Portland Black Lipstick Company, I knew I wanted to have them be one of the companies involved with my Birthday Giveaway. For today's giveaway, I'm giving away one Lipstick and Glitz of your choice from the company. I haven't reviewed the Glitz yet but they are glitter that is eye, lip, and body safe. If you haven't yet, check out my swatches of their lipsticks here and here, along with Jill's swatches of their Darkly Sparkly Glitz and Gold Glitz.

Open internationally, enter using the Rafflecopter Widget! If you're a current GFC Follower, you get a bonus entry!

I haven't had a giveaway in a while so to coincide with my birthday yesterday, I've decided to do a week's worth of giveaways with a few offerings from several of my favorite shops. I wasn't sure what to offer up first but I decided to start this week off big and give away the Limited Edition Sugarpill Cosmetics's @#$%! Eyeshadow that was offered at IMATS LA.

One winner will win one @#$%! Eyeshadow

This giveaway will be running for about a month! Enter using the Rafflecopter widget. I wasn't sure or not whether to make this giveaway open internationally but I have decided to do so. Because of this though, I'm not liable for it being lost in the mail. If you're a current follower, you get a bonus entry in the giveaway!

A while ago, I won a giveaway from Sparklecrack Central and between life getting ahead of her and us not being able to meet up at IMATS LA (there's always IMATS 2013 in 5 months!), it took a little while for her to send things my way. She was super generous with the prize and it happened to include these Concrete Minerals eyeshadows.

I've never tried Concrete Minerals before though I've heard great things about their products, especially their Electric Eye Primer. They have expanded their product line beyond mineral eyeshadows to matte eyeshadows and lip tints. I always like to see indie companies do more than just loose eyeshadows because I think it makes it feel like it means that they're always constantly innovating and expanding their business beyond eyeshadows. They're also a local company, located in Riverside about an hour away from me.

I got full size eyeshadows in Infinity and Wicked and supposedly a sample of Zealous. I say supposedly because I feel like my Zealous doesn't look and swatch like other peoples' swatches of Zealous. I'll explain more below

Product Info: The eyeshadows contain 1.5 grams and retail for $7.00.

Packaging: Unlike other indie companies, these eyeshadows are packed in 10 gram jars as opposed to 5 gram jars. Each had a sifter and seal though I'm not sure if they're shrink wrapped or not (I didn't receive them that way so I'm assuming they weren't).

In the first picture, the eyeshadows were swatched dry over Too Faced Shadow Insurance and in the second, swatched over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. The pictures were taken in natural daylight.

Infinity: "Smooth aqua blue" When I saw the shade I did think of the Tiffany blue and they actually make a note of it in the listing that it's reminiscent of that shade. It's much more blue and less green and was a dream to apply.

Wicked: "Medium purple with aquamarine shift" The listing makes the color look quite red toned whereas I think it's more of a blue-toned purple, more of a smoky grape. I had some application problems with this because it seemed to want to fade as I was applying it more than the other shades. In order to get it to look that lavender in my swatch, I had to really pack it whereas when swept on like in the second picture, the darker base shines through so it looks more like a smoky grape. There is a slight aquamarine shift when applied dry but it needed a glitter fixative like Darling Girl Glitter Glue or Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy to show off the shift best.

Zealous: "Vibrant turquoise" I'll admit I'm a little confused whether I actually got Zealous or not. Other swatches seem to show a bright turquoise blue and while I see the turquoise shift, it's on top of a darker green base. Over Pixie Epoxy, the turquoise shift takes over so the green base is less prevalent but I still don't get that vibrant blue/turquoise I've been seeing all over the place. Considering that all the other swatches look the same and mine is the odd one out, I must conclude that everyone else is right and mine is a weird one. Ambiguity about the color aside, this applied really well without fading on me.

Formula-wise: I don't think I've used many indie eyeshadows before with Boron Nitride as a base and I was pleasantly surprised to see that I did like how it helped with the adhesion. While I did like Infinity and Zealous (?), Wicked was just okay to me. I have been eyeing Lolita for ages though and might just have to pick it up.

Website-wise: I think it's a very professional looking website with the categories and search bar on the left along with pictures on the front page directing you to the specific listings. If I did have to nitpick on something, I don't like that you have to hover over each category in the sidebar to see the different product listings because I instinctively click on the category which just causes it to refresh the page.

Overall thoughts: I like them enough to consider trying out a few of their other eyeshadows. I especially am thinking about their Electric Eye Primer. I think they used to have samples of the primer along with a Blogger Sample Pack but unfortunately it looks like they stopped offering that. I think it's especially intriguing that they have "Pro Matte" eyeshadows since loose matte eyeshadows can be difficult to work with.

Have you tried Concrete Minerals before? If so, what did you think of them and if not, what would you get?

Disclaimer: I won these eyeshadows through a giveaway. None of the links in this post are affiliate links and all opinions are honest and my own.

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About Me

Welcome! My name is Mai. I am a Vietnamese Beauty Blogger located in Orange County/Los Angeles, CA. I feature reviews/swatches of cosmetics at all price points and post photos of my makeup looks. I hope you enjoy reading!